Problem installing 6.x on Dell e510 - ATI x800 XL related ? Garbled lines under "Ubuntu" install logo

So when I try to start/install Ubuntu 6.x I see the "Ubuntu" picture on the screen and the "knight rider" bar swaying back and forth up to a point. Then I see a green bar across the screen about 2-3 pixels thick and what looks like a frozen system. However if I give it a few (10) seconds and then try to arrow/page up and down, I can tell that there is some text in there but I'm unable to read it at all - imagine writing a message on a rubber band and then stretch the rubber band out as far as it can go. Then at some point, after hitting enter on a few lines eventually there is a response, woohoo right, uh no. Seconds later, I can barely make out a message in really dark text towards the bottom of the screen telling me to take out the disc and hit ENTER to reboot.

*But*, under 6.06 in Safe VGA mode I get an X server error that indicates it doesn't like the driver. So being an advanced Windows user, this is where I would think we need to introduce a newer/working/different driver to the install ?engine?, but being a Linux virgin, don't know how.

Looking for thoughts/suggestions/instructions on how to move forward so that I can broaden my horizons on Linux. BTW, haven't tried any other distro's yet. I have a bunch of Ubuntu homers at work to help me and am asking them too.